What Does My CD/DVD Collection Say About Me?

They say you can tell a lot about a person by their collection of CD's and DVD's. What do you think mine says, or should I say SCREAMS? Don't you just love riffling through friends collections to see their personal tastes for music and film. I do! However, we all hide our poor tastes away. Well those of us with pride do. I find it's best to keep the really embarrassing stuff (in my case the entire STEPS singles collection) boxed up and hidden away in the attic. Sorry I'm afraid I don't have any snaps (proof) for you all to see. But you can enjoy a small part of my collection above.

Chantal Biya . . . The First Lady of Drag!

. . . and my second favorite first lady after Michelle Obama is ? ? ? . . . Chantal Biya! Other wise know as the first lady of Cameroon. Although, 'THE First Lady of Drag' is probably a more befitting title for Mrs Biya and her crazy-ass fuckin' hair - either the work of a creative genius or one SADISTIC hair dresser. Regardless, I'm currently loving Chantel and her clothing of many colors, fiesta fashion. I mean what's not to love about Chantal? She's always smiling through poorly applied lipstick. Her eyebrows resemble caterpillars. She has revived shoulder pads and loves vintage jewelry from the 1980's. Her nails are press-ons. She campaigns tirelessly for HIV/AIDS charities and she hangs out with Paris Hilton. Basically she's a Drag Queen . . . and one fuckin' fabulous first lady. All hail the first lady of Cameroon ♥

Steve McCurry Retrospective

Today I took in the Steve McCurry exhibition at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. This retrospective by the American photo-journalist is just fantastic. Of course it's McCurry's most famous photograph, of a young Afghan girl with the most stunning eyes that you come to see. This image and many others are some of the most famous and celebrated photographs in the world. Seeing them blown up and set against a simple white (wall) backdrop at The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery truly doesn't do them justice, but they sure do captivate you. I strolled leisurely through the museum with my latte, occasionally sitting on a bench in front of a photograph I wanted to loose myself in. A wonderful thing to do for any dreamer and lover of photography. The gallery have displayed McCurry's work beautifully and chosen his finest photographs to display. What's great about this retrospective is that the admission is FREE. If you have some free time on your hands and happen to be in Birmingham do check out the Steve McCurry exhibition.

Steve McCurry Retrospective
@ The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery until October 17th
Tel: 0121 464 8887

Steve McCurry website - www.stevemccurry.com

Delightful Japanese Pop

I spend a lot of time riffling through the world section at music retailers like HMV. I've always loved and been attracted to music from other cultures. There's just something very special about listening to music in a foreign language. Not knowing what the singer is actually singing about is actually quite fun, especially when you try and interpret the lyrics yourself. I've recently discovered Japanese Pop or J-Pop and found a rather wonderful little gem of a CD called Nippon Girls, Japanese Pop from the 1960's and 70's. This CD really does make me smile. Beehives in Tokyo! Kitch in Kimonos! This collection of some of Japans forgotten and most memorable women in popular Japanese music of yesteryear is just wonderful. Nippon Girls is incredibly camp and really does need to be played while serving canapes and martinis at your next dinner party. Just GET IT!

I ♥ Lychee

I'm going through a bit of a Lychee fruit phase. I can't stop eating the little prickly treats. They are absolutely scrumptious with almost everything. Today I had them with yogurt and honey and the day before I had them with a big helping of vanilla ice cream. I've even munched on them with nothing more than a pint of beer to wash them down with. Trust me! Just try them, you'll love them. The Lychee rules.

Aerobics Fashion & Me!

If there was ever a moment in my life when I wanted to be a girl, it was the day I first set eyes on Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical' music video. Her video clip made working out cool and more importantly she made Aerobic wear, very, very, fashionable. I always thought it wasn't fair, why do only girls get to wear all those fabulous neon colors and sparkly accessories? I want a pair of leg warmers, a headband, satin white leotards and a flashy purple aerobics bikini thingamajig. I want to work out lifting little free weights while dancing to 'Physical' GOD DAMN IT! Sadly, I never got my way at the tender age of ten, I didn't get to slip into any aerobics wear. Not even my mothers for that matter, mainly because she had a fondness for shades of green. I detested green. Anyway I no longer have a desire for aerobics wear, but it sure does make me giggle every time I see Olivia in her leotard and leg warmers. OH! and that Eric Prydz, 'Call On Me' video . . . if only it did the rounds on MTV instead of Olivia's homage to aerobics. I think I might just have slipped into my mothers green unitard then.

Into The Graffiti Groove

I've always loved Graffiti and admired it as an art form. I suppose I have Madonna to thank for that. In the 80's Madonna just made everything cool and she certainly made Graffiti look fabulous while dancing against it in her Borderline video . . . and for that, Graffiti is just soooo fabulous, so 1980's. I remember the first time I ventured out of the suburbs and into the downtown core and came across my first brick wall blasted with a neon message. How Madonna I thought! Now, much older and further aware of this art form I think of Graffiti as urban art that represents and reflects the youth culture of the time. It's less about how it looked in Madonna's Borderline video and more about it's artistic appeal. How it brightens up the most derelict of inner city spaces. How it makes me smile.

I walk or cycle to my gym most days and take a route through Birmingham that takes me past the most spectacular patch of colorful Graffiti. I've attached some pictures I took the other day while on route. I always have to stop and take in the colors and detail. Ok! So these works are no Monet or Picasso, or any other recognized artisan for that matter. But they sure do capture my imagination and make me hum Borderline for the rest of the day.

The Lone Calla Lily

I planted some Calla lillies a few weeks back. They have always been my most favorite flower. I've always admired thier simplicity and thier beauty. I find they sit so well in a vase amongst a modern setting in any room. I was quite looking forward to having a massive bunch of them blooming in my front garden. Sadly of the dozens I planted just this one has come up. This lone Calla lily has blasted through my soil to the heavens at rapid speed, two weeks. I just wish his other friends would join him as my vase will look rather sparse this summer.

The Invitation

It's always so lovely to receive invitations to parties. I've certainly had some fabulous invites in my lifetime. Although, I'm still waiting for my invite to Buckingham Palace from the Queen to collect my OBE. One can always dream! In the meantime I will have to settle for an invite by the Vietnamese community here in Birmingham to attend their annual Summer fete. I was delighted when I arrived home the other day and found a pretty little white envelop addressed 'Kind Neighbor' posted through my door. If you have a look at the image to your right you can read what was inside - my personal invite by my lovely Vietnamese neighbors to help them celebrate the summer and everything wonderful about their community. They have been decorating their drop in center across the street from me for the past few days with some very colorful lanterns and fabrics. It's all looking rather special and I'm quite looking forward to attending. I mean, how often do you get invited to a Vietnamese summer fete? Hardly ever, right? Come to think of it, I think mingling with a foreign community, sampling thier fine cusine and observing thier traditions would be so much more exciting than having a pin plased on my lapel by a stuffy old woman with her corgis nipping at my ankles.

The Mixed Tape

The days of making mixed tapes for your friends are well and truly over. I blame all this new technology, the iPod in particular. All these advancements in music technology are taking the fun and passion out of sharing your musical tastes with your friends. What I mean is - you can't make a mixed iPod and then hand it over to your best mate for keeps, due to syncing, and at a cost of a £120 that would be one expensive collection to give away. I really miss making mixed tapes for friends, sitting for hours riffling through LP's and cassette's, selecting your favorite songs, cuing and recording them in perfect sequence on another cassette tape, then writing out all the artists and songs on the back of the index card. Making mixed tapes was the one and only geeky thing I ever did. There was just something kind of exciting about making that right mix, that perfect tape. It wasn't so much about finishing it, but making it. I accepted the CD as a new recording device when it arrived, but it just wasn't the same. Moving 80 minutes of music into a playlist and burning them onto a CD in about ten minutes . . . well, it was just too easy, quick and no longer fun. So the mixed tapes are no more. I suppose the good thing about the demise of the mixed tape, is that my friends, will no longer be getting twelve inch remixes of Betty Boo, Black Box and Snap! from me.